Learner Case Study - Mary

Mary thought the future looked bleak. She had no job, no qualifications. Then she started on a community learning course and began to earn credits that led to a Diploma and a job.

Mary was a single mum in her early 40s. She'd not worked since her daughter, Kirsty, was born 11 years ago.

"After my divorce I felt afraid to look into the future, really. I couldn't see what was in store for us. No partner, no job, no qualifications. It all just seemed pretty hopeless."

But a friend persuaded her to find out about community-based learning and Mary started on a community managed lifelong learning project.

That earned her a cluster of SQA Units in childcare. And the learning project itself was so interesting that she became more and more involved in the centre and, finally, became Chair of the management committee.

"I realised that people like me can have another chance. That I wasn't the only one who had wasted their time at school and then let things drift. There's loads of people like me, but now there's a chance to do something about it. That's why I got so involved in the community learning project."

Mary decided she wanted to get back into learning properly and make her life take a new route.

"I still had a fear of looking too far ahead. But my ambition was to be able to work with other people like myself, and encourage them back into learning."

Mary got advice from her local further education college, which gave her credits both for her SQA units and for the experience she'd gained from her involvement with the learning project. She started on a college designed course in Working with Communities and found a new lease of life.

"The college gave me a lot of support to help me get into a routine of learning. They don't just accept you into the classes and then forget you. There was always someone to talk to when you had a problem with the course."

Mary decided to stay on and take an HNC in Working with Communities. "Studying suddenly became part of my life. And Kirsty would do her homework alongside me in the evening. It gave us something else to share. I gained the HNC and felt really proud. At long last I had achieved something in my life."